catholic high school. and little did we know when we wore navy blue jumpers and could only play half-court basketball that we would be doing a full-court press in the house and the senate. >> what is next for you? do you intend to stay in the senate? any other aspirations? >> i think being in the united states senate is one of the greatest jobs in america. i have a six-year term to think about the people of maryland and our country. and i think about it every day. for me it's not how long you serve, but how well you serve. you know, growing up in a neighborhood in baltimore, my father ran a little neighborhood grocery store. and every day he opened the door of that store, and regardless of who you are, he would say good morning, can i help you. and that's the kind of senator i'm going to be, to think about the day to day needs of my constituents and put them into national policy. the long-range needs of our country, and think about where we're going to be in the new century, the issues of war,

peace, jobs, innovation, how do we have a great economy while we're in such great transition. and most of all, get back to putting our country over our political parties. >> you have also worked with every president since jimmy carter. >> i worked with every president since jimmy carter, and each has had their own personality, their own agenda, and i certainly enjoy working with president obama and look forward to helping him with his reelection. >> and finally, wednesday on the senate floor and live on c-span 2, your colleagues paying tribute to your tenure in the house and the senate. what do you expect to hear? >> well, i think my -- knowing my senate colleagues, they're going to say nice things about me. i think they're going to tease me. and i hope that they do. the senate is a great

institution. and i know it will be a sense of friendship and collegiality. and i hope it has a good old fun and humor. and most of all, when people hear about me, that they hear really the story of america, and that maybe other young people will think oh, i can be her, oh, i can break that record, or gee, i think i'd really like to be there and be a reformer, be a fighter, and move our country into the next century. >> and i have to ask you, what will they tease you about? >> stay tuned. live on c-span. >> senator barbara mikulski is joining us on capitol hill on this monday. thank you very much for being with us, and happy anniversary. >> thank you. >> you're listening to "washington today" on colin powell c-span radio. >> there is another anniversary today. it was 33 years ago today that cameras were turned on on the floor of the house of representatives, march 19th, 1979. among the first to speak, a congressman from tennessee, congressman al gore.

>> gentleman from tennessee. >> mr. speaker, on this historic day, the house of representatives opens its proceedings for the first time to televised coverage. i wish to congratulate you for your courage in making this possible, and the committee who has worked so hard under the leadership of congressman charles rose to make this a reality. television will change this institution, mr. speaker, just as it has changed the executive branch. but the good will far outweigh the bad. from this day forward every member of this body must ask himself or herself, how many americans are listening to the debates which are made. when the house becomes comfortable with the changes brought by television coverage, the news media will be allowed to bring their own cameras into this chamber. in the meantime, there is no censorship. every word is available for

broadcast coverage. and journalists will be able to use and edit as they see fit. the solution for the lack of confidence in government, mr. speaker, is more open government at all levels. i hope, for example, that the leadership of the united states senate will see this as a friendly challenge to begin to open their proceedings. >> the gentleman's time has expired. >> the marriage of this medium and our open debate has the potential to revitalize democracy. >> congressman al gore, march 19th, 1979, recognized by the speaker of the house, thomas p. tip o'neill of massachusetts as television cameras came to the floor of the house of representatives and brought the advent of c-span 33 years ago when this network went on the air. now we are three networks, a radio station, c-span.org, and seen and heard in more than 105 million homes around the country. 33 years ago, c-span went on the

air. this is "washington today" on c-span radio. >> listen on the go with the free c-span add ye app. four audio streams, congressional hearings, white house briefings and speeches from national leaders, supreme court oral arguments, american tv, history tv. and podcasts of some of our regularly scheduled programs like q&a and newsrooms. at the top of the hour, the c-span radio, coast-to-coast on xf satellite radio, channel 119, and "washington today" continues. >> what will dixon say? will they stand up and uphold freedom, uphold the legacy of this great man and what did did to this country, what a difference it made? will that have been in vain, or will it be the generation that

reagan feared and talked about in his farewell address that forgot what america was all about. let's affirm our conviction that america is a land of opportunity and freedom and usher in a new era of prosperity and leadership. thank you so much and god bless this great land. thank you. >> mitt romney at the university of chicago talking about the issue which has been driving his campaign and his candidacy, the economy. rick santorum in the hometown of ronald reagan, dixon, illinois, tomorrow's primary 54 delegates at state. welcome to hour two of washington today on c-span radio. i'm steve scully. we'll hear more from the candidates competing in tomorrow's illinois primary. after illinois it is on to louisiana with a weekend primary. mitt romney winning 20 delegates over the weekend in puerto rico. meanwhile, the lawyer representing the army staff sergeant accused of killing 16 afghans, including nine children

met with the soldier today at the military's maximum security prison at ft. leavenworth in kansas. attorney john henry brown saying in his three-hour talk with robert bayles included an emotional description of what has happened on the ground in afghanistan. bayles by the way has yet to be charged. he is being held in an isolated cell. here in washington this week, we're going hear much more on the debt and the deficit as congressman paul ryan, the chair of the house budget committee, outlines his blueprint for spending. he is expected to get the support of house republicans, but it remains unclear if it will go anywhere in the u.s. senate. meanwhile, the hill newspaper reporting that the leaders of the senate armed services committee are warning the pentagon do not make any sudden moves without consulting us first. that's the message from the chair of the committee, carl levin of michigan and john mccain. urging that the pentagon not reduce forces until the congressional committees have

authorized the 2013 defense budget. the senators wrote, quote, it has become clear that the pentagon plans to start making moves for the 2013 budget in the current fiscal year before the congressional committees have been able to tackle the 2013 budget requests. we request that you not take actions until you meet with us first. you can read more on this story online at the hill.com. well, let's turn to presidential politics and the campaign for illinois. today at the university of chicago, mitt romney again outlining his economic agenda, pivoting away from campaigning against rick santorum and focusing his time and energy and political ammunition on barack obama. and then asked questions among those participating, including young people, whether or not they will vote, and if so, whom to vote for. >> second question. many young people have been affected by the recession more than most. given that you have delivered this talk at a university, what might you say specifically to young people about your economic policy? how might you address crippling student loans unand underer

employment and a lagging economy that would speak to the struggling young adults particularly in america? >> i joke and i don't mean to be flip with this, because i actually see truth in it. i don't see how a young american can vote for -- well, can vote for a democrat. i apologize for being so offensive in saying that. but i catch your attention. but i mean that in the humor i mean there is some truth there and i say that for this reason. that party is focused on providing more and more benefits to my generation. and a mounting trillion annual deficits my generation will never pay for. the interest on that debt is going to young people in america. some have called it the greatest intergen rational transfer of wealth in the history of humankind. it's going on piece by piece. my party is consumed with the idea of getting federal spending down and creating economic growth and opportunity so we can balance our budget and stop

putting these debts on you. these debts are not frightening to people my age because we'll be gone. they ought to be frightening to death people your age who are concerned about your future, wonder what your tax rates are going to be, and by the way, wonder whether social security and medicare will be there for you. adding insult to injury is the fact that we have an administration that when they were running for office said that social security and medicare were in deep financial trouble, and yet three and a half years later have offered no proposals to balance social security and medicare. and make them sustainable for your generation. i have. you may not like my ideas, but at least i put ideas out there to save those programs for your generation. and i've laid out with my economic plan proposals that preserve economic freedom, create growth, will provide jobs for you as you come out of college, and will make sure we don't pass our burdens, our debt

on to you. that's what -- that really is at the heart of what my party is about, making sure that we preserve this extraordinarily unique nation in the history of the earth, this exceptional place, which is imperilled by debt, by lack of a willingness to deal with the challenges we have, by stagnating growth, and by an attack on economic freedom among our other freedoms that are being attacked. that's what it's about. sometimes i shake my head. we're not doing as good a job as i want to do connecting with young people across the country. you guys ought to be out working like crazy. for me and people like me, conservatives, who want to keep the cost of government down and give you a brighter future. thank you. >> and those comments by mitt romney generating a lot of headlines on this monday evening in advance of tomorrow's illinois primary. he spoke to students at the university of chicago. he also talked about jobs and the economy. you can watch the speech any time on our website at c-span.org. well, politico puts it this way.

since winning the primaries in alabama and mississippi, rick santorum's standard remarks have generally excluded an economic plan. the heart and soul of the message of his chief republican rival has been the economy. mitt romney repeats it, as you heard just a moment ago at event after event, day after day. and focusing much more on barack obama than on his republican primary field. well, today rick santorum did revive talk about jobs and renewing the manufacturing sector, but add "my campaign doesn't hinge on unemployment rates or growth rates." politico indicating that is a clear shot at mitt romney. in dixon, illinois, talking about other issues, including social issues and health care. here is more from that event earlier today. >> ronald reagan stood for free markets, for free economy. he would be appalled at looking at what is happening today with the government takeover of health care. margaret thatcher, after she

left the prime ministership of england looked back and what she had accomplished in england at the same time she served as reagan did. and she said she was never able to accomplish what reagan accomplished in the america. she said the reason, the british national health. once government has its hooks into you. once government makes you dependent on it for your very health and your lives and those of your churn and your loved ones, they got you. they got you. and there is no amount of tribute you will not pay to get what you think you need to preserve your health, and more importantly, the health of those that you love. that's why obamacare is the number one issue in this race. it is a race -- it's an issue about fundamental freedom.

it's about whether you will be a generation that will be the generation that reagan talked about. he said freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. we didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. it must be fought for, protected, and handed on to them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was like in the united states when men were free. [ applause ] do not be that generation that reagan warned about. there is only one way to stop it from being that way. and that is to make sure that we nominate somebody who can take

on barack obama on the issue of health care, on the issue of freedom, on the issue of liberty in this country. [ applause ] someone who has not been for government-mandated health care, some of us have been for top-down government control of the health care sector at a state or federal level, but someone who understands how critical, how critical government control of health care is in our society. and is able to go after barack obama, make this the central issue there is a poll out today in four states -- excuse me, first in the country that showed that 2/3 of americans oppose obamacare and the individual mandate. 2/3 of americans. [ applause ]

why would the republican party put up a nominee who takes that issue off the table? who takes the health care issue and government mandates, both at the state and federal level which he has supported? why would the republican party nominate someone on the most important issue of the day, freedom, reagan's freedom? why would we take that off the table? that's why you have to help me here in illinois and help me get elected here in the state of illinois. [ applause ] >> rick santorum on the campaign trail in dixon, illinois. he has been in the southern part of the state, making his way to the northern part of the state, campaigning in towns like peoria, rockford, and dixon, which is the boyhood home of president ronald reagan. well, the headline from the chicago tribune is candidates making the final push, with illinois now in the spotlight. in the santorum campaign out with a new national ad airing on radio stations around the

country, taking aim at mitt romney's record. >> okay, a liberal, a moderate, and a conservative walk into a bar, and the bartender says, hello, mitt. funny, but true. you see mitt romney doesn't seem to have any core values. just says what he thinks people want to hear, like telling liberals in massachusetts he is pro-choice and always will be. then telling conservatives he is pro-life. now romney's latest pandering, after telling us he supports making english our official language, seems old mitt got caught in puerto rico telling voter there's he opposes them having to learn english to become a u.s. state. rick santorum, he stuck to his convictions and told them you want to become a state? start teaching english in your schools. where does romney stand on the issues? it all depends on who he is standing in front of. paid for by rick santorum for president.

>> this is rick santorum, candidate for president, and i approve this message. >> the latest from the santorum campaign. that radio ad airing nationwide on xm sirius satellite radio. in illinois today with 54 delegates at stake tomorrow. a program reminder tomorrow evening. the polls close 8:00 eastern time. we'll have the result here is on c-span radio and live on c-span television, will at c-span.org, including another simulcast of politico's coverage at politico.com and speeches by rick santorum. he will be in gettysburg, pennsylvania tomorrow evening. and mitt romney who will be in schaumburg, illinois outside of chicago. polls in the state indicating that mitt romney has some momentum, but as he indicated in our last hour, these polls are all over the place. >> well, and frankly, you know, go back to mississippi and alabama where the polling numbers were kind of all over the place too.

and, you know, we're starting to see a little bit of separation between romney and santorum. but, again, traditionally, santorum seems to underpoll, sometimes romney overpolls. a lot depends on the turnout. and the big question has always been up in the chicago metropolitan area where suburban republicans tend to be more moderate, just as we've seen in the past, support romney. but there is a high level of apathy out here, which is somewhat surprising given illinois's rare role for republicans to have a say. >> let me ask you about the party establishment. bob edgar -- >> jim edgar. >> i apologize, who has not endorsed anyone in this race says he is going to stand on the sidelines. politico has a story that there is really a lack of enthusiasm for mitt romney, but a lot of questions whether or not rick santorum has already peaked. >> you know, indeed, as we heard in the clip from santorum about the chase of the establishment republicans, truly, if there are such a thing in illinois as establishment republicans, and

they've been the minority party for a decade now, the establishment republicans are with mitt romney. now having said that, though, yeah, there is a, as we've heard elsewhere and other places, the enthusiasm gap that exists for romney. now down state, which tends to be more conservative, that's the 96 counties outside the six in the chicago metropolitan area, that's the more rural, more conservative areas, and that's frankly where santorum, the bulk of his support comes from. the bulk of the votes cast in the chicago metropolitan area, but if he got low turnout there, you've got some enthusiasm that turns out down state, it could be a long night. >> rick pearson of the chicago tribune. his work is available online at chicagotribune.com. well, as we said at the top of the hour, we'll hear much more about the budget from republicans, house republicans. congressman 35u8 ryan is the chair of the house budget committee. he is expected to release his plan later this week. democrats, meanwhile, are angling to reclaim the house of

representatives, and they have launched a robocall offensive tying 41 house lawmakers to the proposal which is expected to include changes to entitlement programs for senior citizens. we'll have specifics tomorrow from congressman paul ryan and more on the "washington today" program tomorrow afternoon. the dccc with its medicare march campaign began today with robocall connect voters to their representative and encouraging the constituents to demand that the plan be defeated. real clear politics is writing about this. the house is expected to vote by the way on the marked up plan next week. the robocalls assert that supporters of the ryan plan are demanding, quote, the seniors who earned their medicare benefits spend thousands more but refused tax loopholes and giveaways for millionaires. it's just not fair. it's just not right. that's the message from the democratic national campaign committee. sheer what it sounds like. >> my name is patty rutherford, and i live in safety harbor,

florida. i live his congressional district. and he recently voted yes on paul ryan's budget that will totally dismantle and destroy medicare as we know it today. >> my congressman, patrick meehan from the 7th district in pennsylvania has voted to strike down medicare. >> congressman votes tying us to the ryan budget, a budget that destroys the medicare we know. >> recently voted to support the paul ryan budget plan which ends medicare as we know it. >> my name is linda mitchell. i'm a long-term cancer survivor. if it weren't for medicare, i don't think i would be alive today. >> and i'm congressman steve israel. i've been paying into medicare all my working life. i volted to protect medicare, not end it. join our fight at don't end medicare.com. >> that website, that web video

part of the campaign by the democratic congressional campaign committee with a simple goal, to reclaim the house of representatives for the democrats. reuters is reporting at this hour that republicans in the house of representatives trying to seize control of the election year spending debate by rolling out a plan that will slash trillion deficit, also revive controversial reforms to the medicare health care program as you just just a moment ago. the effort from the committee chair paul ryan aiming to portray the republicans as unafraid to face the tough decisions needed to reform what they warn is a looming debt crisis. in advance of tomorrow's release with this web video. >> you know, i was here in congress in 2008 when we had the economic crisis. it was a terrible time. millions of people lost their jobs. trillions of dollars of wealth gone. that crisis caught us by surprise. let me ask you a question. what if your president, your

senator, your congressman knew it was coming? what if he knew when it was going to happen, why it was going to happen, and more importantly, what if they knew what they needed to do to stop it from happening and they had the time to stop it, but they chose to do nothing about it because it wasn't good politics. what would you think of that person? it would be immoral. this coming debt crisis is the most predictable crisis we've ever had in this country. now look what is happening. this is why we're acting. this is why we're leading. this is why we're proposing and passing out of the house a budget to fix this problem. see we can save our country for ourselves and for our children's future. >> the headline in today's "washington post," congressman paul ryan to unveil a new budget as the republican girds for a fight. it's also available online at

"washington post".com. rosalyn helderman is congressional reporter for the post. thanks for joining us here today. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> what is in the plan specifically? i know the details are coming out tomorrow. what can we expect? >> what we've been hearing so far is on the most important issue, which is the top line for how much the budget is going to say that the government should spend in discretionary spending next year, the number that congressman ryan is going to propose is $1.028 trillion. that is the same number that was in his budget last year for the fiscal 2013 year. it's an interesting number for reasons we can discuss. >> what about the timeline for reducing the overall debt? because that's been one of the issues. some say ten years the ryan plan could take up to 30 years. >> that's right. and that number will have to wait to be scored and get some

experts to take a look at it once it's actually on paper. but that number would be much more in line with what he had proposed last year, which would reduce or eliminate deficits over something like 30 years. conservatives have been displeased with that last year. and one of the interesting questions is going to be whether once again they're displeased this year and whether or not they vote for it even if they don't think it reduces deficits quickly enough. >> the roll-out began last week among congressman ryan's staff, but we'll get details this week. how is it going to come about? what can we expect from house republicans? what kind of reaction do you think the gop will give to this plan? >> one of the things that is interesting about the way we're doing it this year versus last year, i think everyone recognizes based on the experience of last year that this is going to be a big symbolic fight between democrats and republicans. so no one is going to be taken aback by that as they were a little bit last year. and so until last week what we

saw was a very highly produced web video unveiled of congressman ryan. he didn't give any details of the plan, but he was walking down a hallway on capitol hill and talking about generally the need to reduce debt and how this is a moral problem that needs to be addressed. >> as you're pointing out in today's story, rejection of the house budget by the senate is almost assured. so where does this go? >> yeah, this is pretty much a symbolic statement of republican priorities in the house. if this budget gets out of the house, it's not picked up by the senate. the real conversation over spending is going to take place amongst the appropriators, the congressmen and women, senators responsible for actually translating budgets into line-by-line spending items. we're not going to have a real conversation about spending broadly until probably after the november election. some time between november and inauguration day is when people who look at this think that we

might have a real chance to have a bipartisan conversation about entitlement reform and tax reform because there will be some pretty big swords hanging over their heads that are going to start january 1. >> well, let me follow up on that point reminder. we're talking to rosalyn helderman, the congressional reporter for the "washington post." your colleagues led by lori montgomery, a front page story yesterday in your newspaper with some background on the details of this grand bargain that fell flat last july between the white house and members of congress. can we reach that point again when you talk about an overall plan to reduce long-term spending and the deficit? >> well, that's the real question, isn't it? and i think the story they wrote that ran yesterday really was eye-opening and explaining how close we came over the summer, but how difficult it has been for both parties even when they want to reach that deal to get it. the thing that will change after

the election besides that will be out of the sort of hot cauldron of election politics, but the bush era tax cuts are set to expire january 1. that's on everyone, the wealthy and the middle class, and the spending cuts that were a consequence for the supercommittee, the big debt redirection from the super committee failing to come up with a plan. the consequence for that were huge spending cuts which take effect on january 1st. those are some pretty big incentives to come up with some kind of big deal that would reform entitlements and reform the tax code. and as part of that, they would agree to do away with the huge spending cuts that take place january 1st, and also the tax reform would take the place of the bush era tax cuts and solve everything. can they really get there? we'll see. >> let me follow up on one point, because you've already indicated where congressional democrats will fall in line on this issue. in